


Fantastic

by SelenaTerna



Series: Time Petals Prompt Fics [3]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Introspection, Mentions of Bad Wolf, Nine doesn't regenerate, Post-Episode AU: s01e13 The Parting of the Ways, Romance, Telepathic Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 07:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10715133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelenaTerna/pseuds/SelenaTerna
Summary: The Doctor muses on the unexpected things the universe sends his way.





	Fantastic

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies! This is my attempt at the TPP Drabble prompt 'velvet' and 'leather'. It's... not really a drabble anymore so sorry about that. Ahem. Hides behind wall. 
> 
> I hope you like anyway! It's a sequel of sorts to my earlier fic 'Love is a Many Splendored Thing', except it's from Nine's POV. It can be read as a standalone, too.

The universe was a strange place, the Doctor mused as he gazed at his sleeping wife.  
  
His _wife_.

  
He shook his head in disbelief.

  
The universe certainly had a strange sense of humour. It had taken away his home, his planet and his people, had forced him destroy them by his own hand, and turned him into a lonely, broken wreck of a man.

It had turned him, the renegade, the outcast of the Time Lords into the sole bearer of Gallifrey’s legacy.

It had taken his identity, and he'd thought he'd never again be what he once was, that the Doctor was dead forever.

  
He'd fully intended to die in the explosion  that fateful night at Henrik's, unable to bear the overwhelming guilt and the deafening silence in his mind any longer.  
  
And then he'd met _her_.  
  
Rose.  
  
And nothing had ever been the same again.  
  
It was hardly surprising that he'd fallen head over heels almost immediately, that he needed her more than he'd ever needed anything else and was driven near to madness with longing for her; she was warmth and loveliness and kindness and compassion and all of the things he was certain he'd long since forfeited any right to.  
  
No, he hadn't been at all surprised to learn that he loved her (although had been surprised to learn there was any love left _in_ him to give).  
  
But he had been utterly flabbergasted to learn that she loved _him_.  
  
He might have been less surprised if she'd loved the last him; the velvet-wearing, light-hearted, softly -spoken charmer with soft curls and a pretty face.  
  
But she hadn’t.  
  
Instead, she’d fallen for him, _this_ him: all ears and leather, a gruff, roughly-spoken, broken old Time Lord whose own kind hadn’t even wanted to claim.  
  
The killer of his kind. The destroyer of worlds.  
  
And yet she loved him. He’d known it long before the Gamestation and shied away from it, unwilling to taint her with his darkness. But Rose, _his_ Rose, wasn’t having any of it and her love had shone brightly in the darkness of his mind, causing _hope_ to flicker into life.  
  
He swallowed.  
  
She’d loved him so much that she’d refused to give up when he’d sent her back to her mother, had knowingly risked her own life to come back to him in a blaze of glory. She’d destroyed the Daleks with a wave of her hand, the power of all that was and ever could be running through her. And despite that, all she’d wanted was _him_.  
  
“ _I_ _want_ _you_ _safe_ , _my_ _Doctor_ ,” she’d said in that eerie plural voice.  
  
His hand trembled as he gently smoothed a strand of hair from her face, still shaken at the thought of how close he had come to losing her. He’d been prepared to give his own life for her, to draw it out of her and suffer the consequences himself  
  
She was more than worth a regeneration; she was worth more than _all_ of his regenerations.  
  
Yet somehow, inexplicably, she had given up the vortex and collapsed, unconscious but unharmed, into his arms. He’d run frantic check after frantic check on her in the infirmary, ignoring Jack’s desperate questions until he saw for himself that she was well, that her mind was intact, and that her body, although changed, was well. _More_ than well.

He trembled at the memory, still afraid that she’d be taken from him somehow. With a gentle pulse, however, the TARDIS soothed his worry, her joyful song reassuring him that all was well and he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, so as to avoid projecting his worry over the bond and waking Rose.  
  
_Their_ _bond_.

  
He closed his eyes, revelling in the glorious feeling of Rose’s mind in his, filling the empty, aching chasm left by the death of his people.  
  
If he’d been shocked that she’d loved him, he’d been flabbergasted when she’d agreed to bond with him. He’d mentioned it tentatively, explaining the bond and its consequences as the three of them recovered in soothing telepathic fields of Solea. Jack had mostly left them to themselves and they had revelled in the freedom that their near-deaths had given them, the pretence stripped away at last. Softly spoken words and halting confessions had led to a promise, a bond in the way of his people.  
  
He’d initially been afraid that she’d think it too fast, or too much, and he’d hastily added it was something they could consider in the future, that she didn’t have to do it,  that he’d perfectly happy to stay as they were if she preferred.  
  
Instead, she’d all but demanded they do it then and there, ignoring his suggestion that they wait, that he was willing to give her time. He’d never have forgiven himself if she entered into it as anything less than fully willing, but she’d dispelled that train of thought in her usual blunt fashion.  
  
“ _I love you,”_ she’d said simply _. “I’ve loved you for ages. I’ll live with you and die with you. There’s no goin' back for me, Doctor._ ”  
  
He knew (how could he not, after all she’d done?) that she meant what she said, that she wanted this, wanted _him_.  
  
And by Rassilon, he wanted her, _needed_ her. Only her. Forever.  
  
And so, they’d bonded there on Solea, with Jack bearing tearful witness. They’d have a human wedding later, for Jackie, but this was for _them_.  
  
She shifted slightly and mumbled in her sleep, and he drew her close, revelling in the fact that she settled immediately.  
  
He smiled -the soft, gentle smile that was only for her- and closed his eyes, contented.  
  
The universe really was a funny place.  
  
And it was _fantastic_.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Come find me on tumblr - I'm at countessselena.tumblr.com :)


End file.
